Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has called on elected leaders including Members of the County Assembly to take their responsibilities seriously and deliver services to the people.
Mudavadi said MCAs who are part of the elected leaders should understand devolution is a critical component of governance under the 2010 constitution.
He said as stipulated under its functions it calls for MCAs to prioritise legislations and bills that aid in the delivery of services and spearhead development at the county level.
He said leaders in the political class should respect and act on the mandate given to them by the people.
He was speaking at the 45th Logooli cultural festival in Mbale, Vihiga County.
“Leaders at all levels should take responsibility and stop this habit of pushing the blame to the next person. Every leader must deliver on what they are supposed to do as elected leaders.” Mudavadi warned.
“Giving an example of the resolutions we passed last year at the 44th edition of this festival, MCAs should by now have passed legislations to have the Mbale Cultural Grounds gazetted for us to begin modernizing it as our cultural centre.” he added.
Mudavadi who doubles as the patron of the Vihiga Cultural Society a body responsible for organizing the Logooli cultural festival, said his passion towards enriching the Maragoli culture should be replicated by the leaders under him especially the Members of Parliament and the MCAs.
He said culture breeds national unity and it should be supported at all costs.
“I love the people of this region and I love our culture, we should never allow it to die, it has to prosper. I am proud to be a Maragoli and a Luhya, but I am more proud to be a Kenyan. We need to remain united even as we conserve our culture.” he added.
Mudavadi used the platform to defend the governments’ position for supporting Raila Odinga’s African Union Candidature saying January next year is going to be a busy month for President William Ruto and him as they hit the road to campaign for Odinga ahead of the February elections.
The PCS said they were supporting Raila’s bid without any conditions because they believed on his potential to steer African Union to great heights.
“We have confidence on Raila and we are supporting him putting in the best effort we can.” said Mudavadi.
He said Odinga is first a Kenyan leader with great expertise and his vision and credentials place him as the right leader for the position.
He added that Odinga has also demonstrated that has also demonstrated to be a leader who will advance the collective aspirations for a united, peaceful, and prosperous Africa.
He warned of the political class introducing conditionalities in the support for Odinga.
“There should be no conditionalities, even President Ruto is supporting him without any conditions.”
Mudavadi said as he warned leaders from the Western region who are introducing political gimmicks in the matter.
The Prime CS also urged the residents of the region as well as other Kenyans to embrace the new Social Health Insurance Fund under the Taifa Care umbrella.
He said Kenyans should not fall into the trap of those opposing the rollout and implementation of the new healthcare scheme.
He has warned that those opposing the new scheme have a hidden agenda to continue crippling the health sector, thus denying Kenyans benefits of a new universal healthcare plan.
“Other regions through sensitization and the call by their leaders are registering in big numbers knowing that they will benefit from the equipment and other support using their numbers. Nyeri, Embu, Narok, Kirinyaga and many other counties are now ranging to 30-40 percentage registration and here in Vihiga we are still staggering at a mere 12-13 percent. We need to be serious and stop introducing politics into this matter.” he warned.
On the issue of insecurity in Vihiga County, the Prime Cabinet Secretary assured the residents that he will take personal responsibility as one of the senior most leaders in government from the region and ensure security is improved and lives protected.
Insecurity in Vihiga County has escalated dramatically, alarming residents with a surge in violent incidents day and night.
“I will take responsibility and ensure normalcy returns to avert fear amongst residents.” he said.
The 44th Logooli cultural festival under the theme “Komenya M’bugwi” which literary means “living (Komenya) in a new land occupancy (Vugwi) which means land acquired by Mulogooli in another locality other than his ancestral habitation in current Vihiga County attracted thousands of locals and invited guests from across the country and beyond including the Azerbaijan ambassador to Kenya Sultan Hajiyev.
By OPCS Press Service
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